Harry Potter and the Strange Inheritance
by marylaveen
Summary: Like all wizards from ancient lines Harry Potter has creature blood in him. Follow Harry Potter as he goes through the ridicule of the ministry, the increasing mental attacks courtesy of a particularly nasty dark lord and the usual bullying all while trying to sort out a new set of instincts that come from his strange inheritance.
1. Prologue

This is my disclaimer. Harry Potter does not belong to me. The characters, the plot, none of it. It all belongs to J. K. Rowling.

I am not the first to write a creature inheritance fic. I have never read one like this one, but if there is one out there I apologize. This comes from my imagination, though I have been inspired by the ideas of others I have read.

This will not completely follow cannon, but it will be close to the original story line, even if some things happen in different ways.

A few warnings, I am a sporadic updater at best. I absolutely love the idea I have for this story but...

This will contain some Dumbledore bashing. Not that I think Dumbles is evil, just manipulative, and I have several characters who just aren't going to put up with it.

That brings up OC's. Really there will just be two. Brandon and Cythia. Neither exist in cannon, but I promise when they come into the story it will make sense.

Other warnings... I may make this wolfstar, I haven't decided yet. This is also a Hinny story. I personally ship it, and haven't seen a single creature fic that is Hinny. Also, Luna is going to be a much bigger character, because I love her.

I think that's everything. Onward and upward everyone.

Prologue

 _End of fourth year, the day before the train leaves to take them home, after the tournament._

Harry was staring at his hands. He didn't want to be in the common room, he wanted to be in his dormitory, but Professor McGonagall had insisted that all the fourth years had to be at this meeting.

"I know you are all eager to forget school for the next several months, but you will pay attention now," McGonagalls voice was as stern as ever and all the students looked at her.

"Better, now, many of you will already know this from your families, but it is my responsibility to make certain each and every one of you has the basic information, so that whetehr or not this affects you you will know how to behave in the coming year. I speak of inheritances. Who can tell me the basics of inheritances?"

To no ones surprise Hermione's was the first hand in the air, what was surprising was that Neville's joined it not long after.

"Mr. Longbottom?" Professor McGonagall asked.

"Most, if not all of the old families have the blood of at least one type of magical creature, if not a mix of several," Neville said quietly. "This blood doesn't always mean that the witch or wizard will transform, but if certain conditions are met, and it depends on the creature what the conditions are, the witch or wizard will transform into their creature self between their fifteenth and sixteenth birthdays, though it usually happens during the summer."

"Very good Mr. Longbottom."

"Excuse me professor," Dean Thomas said.

"Yes Mr. Thomas."

"Why does it usually happen in the summer, I mean, that doesn't make sense."

"That is a very good question Mr. Thomas. It happens during the summer because of the rate of magical development. The magical development of most students is consistent, despite the differences in birthdays because students learn at the same time, and the same rate."

"So," Ron said, "you are saying some of us will go through creature inheritances this summer?"

"It is possible though unlikely that some of you will," McGonagall said. "Unlike magic, which can be possessed by anyone regardless of bloodlines, creature inheritances are based on bloodlines. Only four of you year even have the possibility of an inheritance, and as Mr. Longbottom said, for each creature there are specific circumstances that must be met the the creature to manifest. However, it is certain that some of your classmates, even if they are from different houses will go through an inheritance. As such you all need to know the basics so you can behave appropriately when you arrive next year. For this, you will each write me a two foot essay on the basics of inheritance."

Harry just looked at McGonagall. _Like that's going to happen,_ Harry thought bitterly. _I can't even get my regular homework done. Not with my uncle locking away all my school stuff. Besides, what does a creature inheritance matter. Voldemort is back, and Cedric is dead._


	2. Chapter 1

Harry had wandered through the neighborhood for hours now, after that fiasco lying under the window of the Dursley's front room. He knew he would be in trouble when he went home, but well, he just felt so frustrated. _Keep your nose clean,_ that's what Sirius kept telling him. But how he could keep it cleaner he didn't know. He hadn't done anything since he had left school. Including, unfortunately, his homework. That was what happened when all his school things were locked in the cupboard under the stairs.

Harry was heading home however, after seeing Dudley headed that way. He wasn't sure if his uncle would follow through with his threat to lock him in the shed if Dudley got home before he did again, but he wasn't quite willing to risk it. He saw Dudley's gang up ahead but they all left, before he lost all his good sense and provoked them to fight him. To use magic to give those boys, who once gave him hell, a little of their own medicine.

"Hey, Big D!" Harry called out, hurrying to catch up to his cousin.

Dudley turned."Oh," he grunted. "It's you."

"How long have you been 'Big D' then?" said Harry.

"Shut it," snarled Dudley, turning away again.

"Cool name," said Harry, grinning and falling into step beside hiscousin. "But you'll always be Ickle Diddykins to me."

"I said, SHUT IT!" said Dudley, whose ham-like hands had curled into fists.

"Don't the boys know that's what your mum calls you?"

"Shut your face."

"You don't tell her to shut her face. What about 'popkin' and 'Dinky Diddydums,' can I use them then?"

Dudley said nothing. The effort of keeping himself from hitting Harry seemed to be demanding all his self-control.

"So who've you been beating up tonight?" Harry asked, his grin fading. "Another ten-year-old? I know you did Mark Evans two nights ago —"

"He was asking for it," snarled Dudley.

"Oh yeah?"

"He cheeked me."

"Yeah? Did he say you look like a pig that's been taught to walk on its hind legs? 'Cause that's not cheek, Dud, that's true . . ."

A muscle was twitching in Dudley's jaw. It gave Harry enormous satisfaction to know how furious he was making Dudley; he felt as though he was siphoning off his own frustration into his cousin, the only outlet he had.

They turned right down the narrow alleyway where Harry had first seen Sirius and which formed a shortcut between Magnolia Crescent and Wisteria Walk. It was empty and much darker than the streets it linked because there were no street lamps. Their footsteps were muffled between garage walls on one side and a high fence on the other.

"Think you're a big man carrying that thing, don't you?" Dudley said after a few seconds.

"What thing?"

"That — that thing you're hiding."

Harry grinned again."Not as stupid as you look, are you, Dud? But I s'pose if you were, you wouldn't be able to walk and talk at the same time. . . ." Harry pulled out his wand. He saw Dudley look sideways at it.

"You're not allowed," Dudley said at once. "I know you're 'd get expelled from that freak school you go to."

"How d'you know they haven't changed the rules, Big D?"

"They haven't," said Dudley, though he didn't sound completelyconvinced. Harry laughed softly.

"You haven't got the guts to take me on without that thing, haveyou?" Dudley snarled.

"Whereas you just need four mates behind you before you can beat up a ten-year-old. You know that boxing title you keep banging on about? How old was your opponent? Seven? Eight?"

"He was sixteen for your information," snarled Dudley, "and he wasout cold for twenty minutes after I'd finished with him and he wastwice as heavy as you. You just wait till I tell Dad you had that thingout —"

"Running to Daddy now, are you? Is his ickle boxing champ frightened of nasty Harry's wand?"

"Not this brave at night, are you?" sneered Dudley.

"This is night, Diddykins. That's what we call it when it goes alldark like this."

"I mean when you're in bed!" Dudley had stopped walking. Harry stopped too, staring at his the little he could see of Dudley's large face, he was wearing astrangely triumphant look.

"What d'you mean, I'm not brave in bed?" said Harry, completely nonplussed. "What — am I supposed to be frightened of pillows orsomething?"

"I heard you last night," said Dudley breathlessly. "Talking in your sleep. Moaning."

"What d'you mean?" Harry said again, but there was a cold, plunging sensation in his stomach. He had revisited the graveyard last night in his dreams.

Dudley gave a harsh bark of laughter then adopted a high-pitched, whimpering voice. "'Don't kill Cedric! Don't kill Cedric!' Who's Cedric — your boyfriend?"

"I — you're lying —" said Harry automatically. But his mouth hadgone dry. He knew Dudley wasn't lying — how else would he knowabout Cedric?

"'Dad! Help me, Dad! He's going to kill me, Dad! Boo-hoo!'"

"Shut up," said Harry quietly. "Shut up, Dudley, I'm warning you!"

"'Come and help me, Dad! Mum, come and help me! He's killedCedric! Dad, help me! He's going to —' Don't you point that thing at me!"Dudley backed into the alley wall. Harry was pointing the wand directly at Dudley's heart. Harry could feel fourteen years' hatred ofDudley pounding in his veins — what wouldn't he give to strike now, to jinx Dudley so thoroughly he'd have to crawl home like an insect, struck dumb, sprouting feelers —

"Don't ever talk about that again," Harry snarled. "D'you understand me?"

"Point that thing somewhere else!"

"I said, do you understand me?"

"Point it somewhere else!"

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?""GET THAT THING AWAY FROM —"Dudley gave an odd, shuddering gasp, as though he had beendoused in icy water.

Something had happened to the night. The star-strewn indigo skywas suddenly pitch-black and lightless — the stars, the moon, themisty streetlamps at either end of the alley had vanished. The distantgrumble of cars and the whisper of trees had gone. The balmy eveningwas suddenly piercingly, bitingly cold. They were surrounded bytotal, impenetrable, silent darkness, as though some giant hand haddropped a thick, icy mantle over the entire alleyway, blinding a split second Harry thought he had done magic withoutmeaning to, despite the fact that he'd been resisting as hard as hecould — then his reason caught up with his senses — he didn't havethe power to turn off the stars. He turned his head this way and that,trying to see something, but the darkness pressed on his eyes like aweightless veil.

Dudley's terrified voice broke in Harry's ear."W-what are you d-doing? St-stop it!"

"I'm not doing anything! Shut up and don't move!"

"I c-can't see! I've g-gone blind! I —"

"I said shut up!"Harry stood stock-still, turning his sightless eyes left and right. The cold was so intense that he was shivering all over; goose bumps had erupted up his arms, and the hairs on the back of his neck were standing up — he opened his eyes to their fullest extent, staring blankly around, unseeing . . .It was impossible. . . . They couldn't be here. . . . Not in Little Whinging . . . He strained his ears. . . . He would hear them before he saw them. . . .

"I'll t-tell Dad!" Dudley whimpered. "W-where are you? What areyou d-do — ?"

"Will you shut up?" Harry hissed, "I'm trying to lis —"But he fell silent. He had heard just the thing he had been dreading. There was something in the alleyway apart from themselves, something that was drawing long, hoarse, rattling breaths. Harry felt a horrible jolt of dread as he stood trembling in the freezing air.

"C-cut it out! Stop doing it! I'll h-hit you, I swear I will!"

"Dudley, shut —"

WHAM!A fist made contact with the side of Harry's head, lifting Harry off his feet. Small white lights popped in front of Harry's eyes; for the second time in an hour he felt as though his head had been cleaved in two; next moment he had landed hard on the ground, and his wand had flown out of his hand.

"You moron, Dudley!" Harry yelled, his eyes watering with pain, as he scrambled to his hands and knees, now feeling around frantically in the blackness. He heard Dudley blundering away, hitting the alley fence, stumbling.

"DUDLEY, COME BACK! YOU'RE RUNNING RIGHT ATIT!"There was a horrible squealing yell, and Dudley's footsteps the same moment, Harry felt a creeping chill behind him that could mean only one thing. There was more than one.

"DUDLEY, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! WHATEVER YOU DO, KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT! Wand!" Harry muttered frantically, his hands flying over the ground like spiders. "Where's —wand — come on — Lumos!" He said the spell automatically, desperate for light to help him in his search, but as he expected nothing happened.

"Lumos," he cried again, this time fainter, he could hear soft screams in his mind, his mothers screams.

"Expecto Patronum, expecto patronum," he rasped out desperately, but of course that did no more than the Lumos had. The screams were louder now, _Not Harry, please not Harry._ Harry continued to feel at the ground, desperate for his wand. He heard a rattling breath, and knew that he had moments, heartbeats, before he and Dudley lost their souls.

And then pain struck. It wasn't anything like the cold desperation he had been feeling a moment before. It was fire roaring through his veins. It almost felt like the cruciartus, but there was something cleaner about it, there was no hatred. Harry screamed, his voice ringing through the alley.

As the pain wracked his body he felt something different. A loosening of the barrier between his body and his magic. He could feel his core in a way he never had before. Reaching blindly Harry grabbed that power and with the last of his voice screamed "Expecto Patronum."

This time Harry knew it would work. Even as his mind began to shut down from the pain and exhaustion that came from draining his magic he saw Prongs take shape. The great stag erupted from Harry's chest and charged the Dementors. In his fading view though Harry saw something odd. Instead of Prongs being entirely made of the silver substance he had seen so many times in his third year, it looked as if the beast was wreathed in fire and shadows. Whatever the reason, the patronus drove the dementors off.

Harry watched them flee in satisfaction, even as his head hit the pavement and his vision went black.

 **So, you can probably tell, if you are as great a fan of the books as I am, that I used quite a bit of material from the actual book in this chapter. Everything from "Hey big D" to "Lumos" is straight from the books. I won't do this often, and when I do I will always give credit where it is due. In this instance I knew it would be best to just show where my fanfic departs from the cannon, and to give the background. Plus J.K. Rowling's writing is amazing.**

 **So, there is chapter one, Harry goes through his inheritance, but doesn't know anything about it, plus he did a number on his magical core. Dudley got much more hurt than in cannon, Harry's passed out, and the Ministry is still out for his blood.**


	3. Chapter 2

Petunia's POV:

Petunia's day had been quite lovely. Well except for that fiasco when she and Vernon had been watching the news. Honestly what that boy was thinking she would never understand. Hiding under the window, making that cracking noise she knew came from magic, after the number of times she heard it from Lily as she popped around the house her last year living at home. And listening to the news. Why he cared about the news was a mystery neither she nor Vernon could puzzle out. Of course the day she could understand that type was the day she abandoned everything that made her normal, so she wasn't too upset over her lack of understanding.

She had spent the past few hours with Vernon, doing their normal evening things. Watching the news, watching the telly, having supper, cleaning up after supper and then watching more telly. She was quite looking forward to when her Dudders got home. He always had such interesting things to say after tea with his friends, and of course she was very pleased that he had such good friends that he could spend every day having tea with one of them. She ignored the warning signs about what Dudley did with his friends, she simply didn't want to see the blood on some of his shirt sleeves, and the way little children ducked out of his sight at every opportunity.

 _Yes it had been a good day,_ Petunia thought as she waited for Dudley to come home. She snuggled slightly closer to her husband on the couch.

Their telly was interrupted by a loud ringing noise.

Petunia sat up sharply. "Who would be ringing the bell at this hour?" she asked her husband. Before either of them could move it rang again, and then a third time.

Pulling open the door sharply to see who could be so rude Petunia saw old Mrs. Figg standing on the front steps. Before Petunia could say anything however Mrs. Figg looked her up and down with a sharpness Petunia hadn't known the old woman possessed.

"You're boys are at my place, they are both quite ill, both of you had best come with me." Despite her voice being the same quavery old woman's voice, there was an unusual note of command in it.

"What do you mean our boys are at your place and injured?" Vernon demanded. Mrs. Figg turned that surprising gaze on him.

"What about that was unclear, Mr. Dursley?"

"Why would Dudley come to your house if he was injured?" Vernon demanded.

"He and Harry were attacked by dementors a few minutes ago," Petunia gasped, Dementors, she had hoped to never hear of them again, what that horrid Snape boy had said about them was truly dreadful.

"Harry protected the both of them, but nearly killed himself doing so. They were both unconscious in the alley. I contacted Dumbledore and he, Professor McGonagall and the nurse at Hogwarts all came as quickly as they could. They managed to get both boys into the house and Madam Pomfrey is treating them as we speak."

Vernon looked like a fish, understanding only about a third of what Mrs. Figg had said, but Petunia was already moving. She grabbed her husbands arm and began to drag him towards Mrs. Figg's house.

"How do you know about all of this Arabella?" Petunia hissed while they walked.

"I'm a squib, you know what that is?"

"Yes Lily explained to my parents years ago and I overheard."

"Well I don't," Vernon said, conscious enough of the surroundings to keep his voice low.

"A squib," Petunia said, "is someone born to a magical family, but has no magic themselves, or they can't access their magic of something. Lily kept going on about magic cores, and blockages, and bloodlines, and I didn't understand much of it."

"And dementors?" Vernon asked.

"A type of magical creature," Mrs. Figg replied, she looked around before hurriedly crossing the street. "A particularly nasty type of creature. You are lucky your son had Harry with him or he would be worse than dead."

"And what was one of the guards of Azkaban doing here?" Petunia hissed as they crossed Mrs. Figg's front garden.

"That is a question for Dumbledore, not me," Mrs. Figg said, and she pulled open the front door.

The three of them hurried inside. In the front room Petunia saw three people, three strange people. One was an old man, with a long white beard and long white hair. He ware robes of deep blue and had half moon glasses over eyes that seemed to penetrate to her very soul. The other two were women. Both looked to be on the older end of their middle years. One looked to be incredibly stern, though Petunia could see worry on her face, and the other seemed to be a motherly sort of woman. Unlike the other two, she didn't wear robes but an old fashioned nurses uniform. On the couches lay the two boys.

Dudley lay, half of his bulk on the couch half off. He was completely still, and it looked as if he were dead. In contrast Harry lay curled into a ball on the other couch, rocking back and forth whimpering slightly.

Taking a closer look at her nephew Petunia let out a little shriek. He had a tail, a tail and cat ears.

The strict looking woman looked them over with a disdainful expression Petunia normally saw in the mirror.

"Vernon and Petunia Dursley?" The woman's voice held the faintest trace of a Scottish brogue.

"Yes," Vernon growled.

"What did Arabella tell you?" the Scotswoman asked. As she said this the other woman, the one in the nurses uniform moved from putting something into Dudley's mouth over to Harry. She began to wave her wand over the boy, muttering to herself.

"Just that they were attacked by dementors and that Harry defended them," Petunia said as she hurried over to Dudley's side, ignoring her now even more freakish nephew.

"Defended," the woman in the nurses uniform exclaimed, "Oh, he defended them alright, but the fool boy didn't use his wand, no he went and used the energy of his transformation to cast a patronus. Fool should have died on the spot. It's going to be everything I can do to keep his own magic core from destroying him. Messing with an inheritance like that."

"Poppy, if he had his wand on him I'm sure he would have used it," the Scotswoman said, though not very patiently.

"And why didn't he have his wand on him?" the nurse replied tartly.

"You will be able to ask him when he wakes up," the old man said.

Petunia had been trying to tune out the conversation, focusing instead on her unconscious son.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked the room at large.

"He was moments away from being Kissed by a Dementor," the old man said.

Petunia looked up at the man, looked him up and down, sneered and said, "And what were dementors doing here of all places?"

Vernon looked over at her and she could see the amazement written plainly on his face. He wasn't really keeping up with things. The poor man had never had to deal with so many of these freaks at once before, and simply didn't know how to handle it, but she was quite happy to keep doing so. She'd certainly had enough practice, first with that horrible Snape boy who first stole her sister, then with Potter and his gang of ruffians.

The Scotswoman gave a small chuckle, a smile still on her face as she said, "It's a rare sight to see anyone stand up to him like that, I can think of only a handful who have ever done so. Your sister being at the top of that list."

"I," Petunia said in her iciest tones, looking the woman dead in the eye, "am nothing like my sister."

The woman's smile fell away as she looked between Petunia, still kneeling next to Dudley, and Harry, curled up in a ball on the other side of the room.

"No," the woman agreed, "you aren't."

The old man cut in. "Dementors were here after Harry most likely. I'm not surprised that Voldemort has recruited them."

Vernon made a spluttering sound, but something else had caught Petunia's attention.

"Voldemort is back?"

"Yes." Petunia waited for the old man to explain, last she'd heard Voldemort had died killing her little sister but nothing was forthcoming. She remembered the fear her sister had of that psycho, saying that he was the Hitler of the wizarding world, out to get anyone related to muggles.

When the old man said nothing, she turned back to her son, "What happens now?"

The woman in the nurses uniform, Poppy, answered. "He," she said, gesturing at Dudley, "will be fine after a nights sleep. Best if you give him a large dose of chocolate tomorrow, but he should have no lasting effects, other than nightmares on occasion. Harry... Harry will be coming with us for the rest of the summer. He's going to need constant attention for at least a week, and even then it will be touchy for a few days."

"He will be going with you permanently," Vernon cut in, his face now a rather alarming shade of violet. "He nearly got my son killed."

"Far worse than killed," the Scotswoman said, but she cut off when the old man gave her a stern look.

"He also only survived because Harry risked his life to save him. And you can't get rid of him, you sealed a magical contract by taking him in that night all those years ago."

Petunia only nodded resignedly before returning to a study of her own son.


	4. Chapter 3

**Unless I specify it's Harry's POV.**

Harry woke up in a dark room. He wondered briefly where he was, before his memory caught up to him. Dementors, Dudley. He most certainly hated his cousin, but _no one_ deserved that. In his panic he tried to sit up and groaned instead. He felt as though he had been subjected to the cruciartus. That was the only other time his entire body had felt so utterly worn out.

"Don't try to move Mr. Potter." Harry looked over, but couldn't make out who was speaking in the dark room, though the voice was familiar. Before he could ask the lights switched on and Harry saw that it was Madam Pomfrey.

"Where am I?" Harry asked, not recognizing the room, even with the lights on.

"You are at the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix."

"The what?"

"The Order of the Phoenix is a covert group of people, led by Professor Dumbledore, who work against You-Know-Who."

"But, where is headquarters?" Harry asked, putting the idea of a secret group in the back of his mind for the moment, he would think about that when he knew what was going on.

"This place is protected under the Fidelius Charm, with Professor Dumbledore as the secret keeper. You are familiar with the Fidelius Charm?" Madam Pomfrey asked, when Harry nodded she continued, "as such I can't tell you where we are."

"Can you tell me anything?" Harry asked.

"This home is owned by your Godfather, he agreed to let the Order use it because of all the protective enchantments already in place."

"This is Sirius' home?"

"Indeed," Madam Pomfrey said, a small frown on her face.

"Why am I here?" Harry asked, trying to settle more comfortably on the bed, but with the way his body ached it seemed to be futile.

"You, Mr. Potter, went through a creature inheritance, not particularly surprising, given your bloodline."

"So, I'm hurting because of my inheritance?"

"In part," Madam Pomfrey agreed, "but the much bigger part is what happened as your body experienced it's Change."

"What happened..." Harry's eye opened wide, "the dementors, Dudley." He had been thinking of Dudley when he woke but seeing Madam Pomfrey had put everything else out of his head.

"Your cousin is fine Mr. Potter, you saved his life, but nearly killed yourself doing so."

"I don't understand," Harry said. "I remember my patronus, but I didn't have my wand."

"Precisely Mr. Potter." The look of confusion on Harry's face must have been clear because she continued. "When a witch or wizard goes through the Change, the moment they come into their inheritance, the magic core is in a state of flux. Normally there is a barrier between the wizard and their core, to keep the wizard from being burned alive by his own magic, but in the moment of Change that barrier is down. You used the moment of Change to fuel a patronus. The problem is the transformation itself is draining, taking most of the magic the wizard has, a patronus charm is also a magic intensive spell. Doing both at once, without a wand, nearly killed you. You have been on the edge of magical burn out for nearly a week. It has been all I could do to keep you alive."

"A week?" Harry asked numbly. He'd nearly killed himself with that patronus. But it's not like he had any choice. If he hadn't cast it he would have been worse then dead. Much worse.

"Yes. We brought you to Headquarters as soon as it was safe to move you."

"I..." Harry trailed off, "So what happens now?"

"Now, I go speak with your family about your inheritance, so they can be prepared for the changes in you, physically, magically, and in your temperament. I think it would be wise for you to listen, so I will set up a spell that will allow you to see and hear the conversation, though none on the other side will see or hear you."

"You don't need to tell the Dursleys, they won't care," Harry said tiredly.

"Ah, I should have been clearer. I most certainly did not mean the Dursleys, I meant your real family. All those who have been anxiously waiting for you to wake up, taking turns sitting in your room watching you, be sure you recover, the Weasleys, Miss Granger, Lord Black, Mr. Lupin, Professor McGonagall, Professor Dumbledore."

"Oh," Harry said. He didn't know what else to say. He knew he considered all of them his family far more than he did the Dursleys, but it was strange hearing someone else agree with him.

She ran her wand over her once more, then left, reminding hm that he would be able to hear and see everything, but they wouldn't b able to hear or see him, so he mustn't expect an answer.

It was nearly ten minutes before Harry saw what she meant. At the foot of his bed a screen appeared, reminding Harry of a tele screen. He saw what must have been the kitchen. Everyone was sitting around a large wooden table. Dumbledore sat at the head of the table, with Molly, Arthur, the twins, and Ginny to his left. Professor McGonagall sat to his right with Remus next to her. Sirius was next to Remus followed by Ron and Hermione. Madam Pomfrey stood across from Dumbledore and all eyes were focused on her.

"Thank you all for taking the time to listen to this," Madam Pomfrey began. "Normally I wouldn't be the one to do this, but well... The point of this meeting is for me to explain some of what I know about Harry's inheritance." There was stillness throughout the room.

"Madam," Hermione said, "not that I am ever one to turn down knowledge, but you made this meeting sound like it was life or death."

"It is not quite life or death, but it is very important that you all know what to expect for your sake as well as Mr. Potters. Now if no one has any other questions I would ask that you wait until I've explained everything before speaking as it will be easier to explain that way."

When no one spoke she continued, "Mr. Potter in particular is a challenging case because he is a Hybrid." Hermione gasped. Harry wasn't surprised that she knew what that was, and guessed that the adults already knew by their lack of surprise.

"Mr. Potter has received two full inheritances," Hermione gasped again, apparently even with the knowledge that he was a Hybrid she hadn't expected that for some reason. "The first is quite common. He is a ShadowElf. ShadowElves are very powerful, and dangerous to cross. They are quite solitary creatures, preferring the company of only those close to them. They are humanoid creatures, and as such share most instincts with humans. If he were simply a ShadowElf I wouldn't have even bothered to have this talk with you. He'd be a bit touchy until his magic settled, but he's be acting like his normal self in no time. The complications come with his other inheritance."

Harry felt his breath catch in his throat. What sort of problems could she be talking about?

"Mr. Potter is also a FireCat." Harry heard several gasps this time, but wasn't sure who they came from, and no one said anything.

"Very little in known about FireCats. What we do know for certain is this, they are cousins to the phoenixes and are _very_ powerful, with strong ties to the element of fire, as is apparent in the name. Like their cousins they do have some healing power, but unlike the phoenixes their power is not over physical maladies, but maladies of the mind. In fact rumor suggests that many of their strongest talents lay in the Mind Arts." Harry briefly wondered what the Mind Arts were. "There is one other thing that is known about them, one which will be very important to all of you.

"Like ShadowElves, FireCats are known for having small, very tight knit groups. However, the FireCat within Harry does not trust you. None of you. The wizard in him, even the ShadowElf in his does, but the FireCat does not, can not. It wants to, because it recognizes that you are his pride, but the FireCat instincts will demand you be tested. This is perfectly natural, all FireCats do it. Harry will ask you a question, or a series of questions about something that is troubling to him about you. You must answer truthfully, even if the truth paints you in an unflattering light. FireCats can sense lies. They can and do forgive mistakes, even failure, but not lies. If you lie, Harry will never be able to trust you again, even if he wants to. I would also recommend not hesitating too long as there is the possibility that will taken as a lie. You will know when you are being tested, the records are very clear on that. Once you have passed your test his magic will draw you in, embrace you as one of his pride."

"There is a good possibility that there will be other things demanded by his instincts, unfortunately so little is known about FireCats so I can't give you a definite answer, and I'm not sure how the FireCat instincts will mix with the ShadowElf ones. It is almost unheard of to have a FireCat Hybrid. So you must be patient with him. If this is confusing for you, think of him. He now has a very different body, with two new sets of instincts raging trough him and two additions to his magical core."

As soon as she was finished speaking the screen shut off. Harry wished she had left if up for the conversation he was sure was taking place below his feet, but he was soon caught up in thinking about what he had heard.

The idea of testing his friends was horrifying. He did trust them, they had more than earned it, but even as he thought that he felt the seeds of misgivings. There were questions they needed to answer, everyone at that table had done some things he needed explanations about. He supposed that was what Madam Pomfrey had been talking about.

He meant to stay up and ask her more questions when she returned, like why she had included Professor McGonagall in the meeting, and more particulars about testing his friends, but he was soon asleep once more.

 **So, I know in cannon Madam Pomfrey isn't a member of the Order, but its a small change, one I think is plausible, besides its really important for her to be there.**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

When Harry woke up again the room was light, he could feel the sunlight streaming through the windows onto his now sensitive skin. He opened his eyes and looked around. Now that it was light he could make out the room. It had a horrible shade of green on the walls, and everything about it seemed...grimy.

As he looked around the room he saw Mrs. Weasley sitting in the corner knitting.

"Hello dear," she said when their eyes met. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm..." Well he certainly felt better than the last time he woke up, but he still din't feel good. Everything ached, his head worst of all. "Fine."

A small frown flashed across her face, obviously she didn't believe him, not that he blamed her. He was usually much better at that particular lie. She hummed, and turned back to her knitting. Harry lay there fighting with himself. He needed to ask her something, but he didn't want to. He felt like questioning her would be a betrayal, and after everything she had done for him he couldn't bear that thought.

Finally, when he couldn't stand it any more he stammered, "Mrs...Mrs. Weasley can I ask you something?"

As soon as he spoke a tension filled the air. I didn't come from awkwardness, no it felt more like anticipation. The room seemed to vibrate with energy.

"Of course dear," Mrs. Weasley said, looking him straight in the eyes, "you can ask me anything, anytime." Harry swallowed hard.

"Why did you ask what platform the Hogwarts express leaves from that first year? That's what drew me to you, and I..." Harry trailed off.

Mrs. Weasley blinked in apparent surprise. Evidently that was not what she'd been expecting.

"Because of you dear." Harry stiffened and she gave him a gentle smile. "I saw you turn our way when Percy mentioned muggles. You were clearly a wizard, you had Hedwig with you and I haven't heard of any muggles who keep owls, and just as clearly you were alone. I debated just asking if you needed help, but I didn't want to frighten you. I asked about the platform to confirm for you that we were indeed a family of wizards. When you didn't ask straight away I thought I would have to reach out to you after all, but then you came and asked me for directions. I didn't know who you are, I just knew you needed help."

"Oh," Harry said, and felt relief well up in him. She was telling the truth, he was certain of that. He found himself breathing easier; for a moment he had thought... "Mrs. Weasley, why did you go the muggle way to the station in the first place?"

She smiled, this time it seemed as if she were smiling to herself. "My mother started the tradition. She would always look out for muggleborns who needed help. I met some really interesting people that way when I was in school. When I had children I decided to continue the tradition. Arthur never minded, another excuse to see muggle things.

"That's how I was able to pick you out so easily when you first turned our way, I was looking for someone who needed help. I love the tradition and hope my children follow it with their own someday, though it does make getting to the train a bit tricky every year."

Harry relaxed entirely. He had been afraid she had been set up there to try to get to him because of his fame. Silly now that he thought about it, that seemed to be an extraordinary measure take just to get close to him. That was his last thought before returning to sleeps embrace.

When Harry woke next he felt like he had when he last woke. Still worn out, but not in so much pain. It was more a consistent ache throughout his entire body. He let out a light groan and shifted, trying to sit up.

"Pup," Sirius said, moving over to him and helping him sit up the rest of the way. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit sore," Harry admitted. "How are you? What have you been up to? I haven't seen you since..." Harry trailed off at the memory of that night. He hadn't thought about it since the dementor attack. Every moment waking and sleeping before that had been consumed with memories of the graveyard, and Cedric, and now it all crashed into him again.

"I'm fine," Sirius said, not meeting Harry's eyes and he smoothed the covers. "I've just been here trying to make this place livable for the Order of the Phoenix."

"What is the Order of the Phoenix?" Harry asked. Madam Pomfrey had mentioned it too. That this house, Sirius' house, was the headquarters.

" It's a group of people dedicated to fighting Voldemort, led by Dumbledore. We acted as the main resistance during the last war, and with the way the ministry has been acting we are the only ones fighting now."

"And where are we?" Harry asked looking around again at the dingy greenish room.

"Ah, well this is my parents place."

"Your..."

"Turns out they died while I was stuck in Azkaban. With my idiot of a brother having been killed after trying to leave the death eaters I inherited everything. Including this place. It has tons of protective enchantments on it, from generations of paranoid Black's living here, and with what Dumbledore's added this is now one of the most secure locations in the UK."

"Your brother was a death eater?" Harry asked looking at his godfathers slumped form sitting on the end of the bed.

"Oh yes, my perfect little brother, could do no wrong, he joined up when he was sixteen. My parents were so proud. But he got cold feet, tried to back out. And well, once you're in, you're in for life. So he was killed."

"I'm sorry." Sirius looked up at that.

"Don't be. I warned him, told him not to do it, but he didn't listen, it's his own damn fault."

"Still," Harry said. A silence fell over the room. They both sat their looking at their hands and thinking of the family that should have been there.

The silence didn't last long however. Within a few minutes a magical buzz began to fill the air. The vibrations in the room grew until, unable to resist any longer Harry spoke.

"Sirius," Harry faltered. He knew what he needed to ask, but how to go about it. Sirius turn from studying his own hands to look Harry in the eye.

"Why?" Harry finally said.

"Why what pup?" Sirius asked. A new tone entered the vibrations in the magic.

"Why did you go after Pettigrew? Why did you leave me?"

There was a long pause before Sirius let out a tired breath running his hands through his long tangled hair.

"It's... I... I've always been hotheaded Harry. It's one of by greatest strengths, I'm able to jump into motion at a moments notice, but it's also caused me more problems in my life than anything else. That night, that night I had gone to check on Peter. He had been distant lately, avoiding us, and I was worried about him. His mother was ill, and I thought that he had withdrawn because of that. But it had been months. That day I decided to confront him about it. With Remus gone so much doing work for the Order and James locked up in your home for his own protection I needed some comfort from my last brother. So I went to his place with the intention of knocking some sense into him and getting roaring drunk. I took several bottles of firewhisky and planned on telling him that he didn't have to struggle alone, and that we were all there for him. The usual things. It's what the four of us always did for each other.

"When I got to his place I felt that something was wrong. I have spent enough time around dark magic to know the feel it leaves on a place. Peter wasn't there, and with the feel of dark magic I panicked. I raced over to your parents place. I thought Peter had been captured and they were trying to get the information out of him. I was just going to check on your family, then I was going to save him. But when I got there...

"The magic that failed to kill you tore your house apart Harry. Most of the house had collapsed, parts of it were on fire, others were leaking dark magic. It was one of the worst things I have ever seen. I raced into the house, and I stumbled across your dad. I literally stumbled across the body of my best friend, my brother. When I saw him, everything in me just shut down, and I froze, just for a moment. When the moment passed I raced up the stairs and I saw your mothers body and Hagrid's large form. He was bent over, just picking you up. He turned around and saw me and quickly assured me you were still alive. He tried to comfort me, telling me how brave James and Lily had been, but I didn't really hear him.

"I held out my arms, asking for you, but he refused. He said he had orders to take you to Dumbledore. I tried to protest, saying I was your godfather, but my heart wasn't in it. I was in shock Harry. I truly did want to take you, I just wasn't thinking clearly." Sirius stopped and looked at Harry again, his eyes pleading with him to understand. When Harry nodded Sirius continued.

"I knew you would be safe with Dumbledore, at Hogwarts, so I gave Hagrid my motorbike. I was afraid you would be caught on the way there, and no one would think to look for Hagrid in the sky. I could get it back when I picked you up from Hogwarts. I honestly had no idea you were going to your aunt and uncles. If I had known I would insisted on taking you, I'd met them before and wouldn't wish them on anyone, but I assumed you were going to Hogwarts.

"I apparated to Peter's house. I didn't blame him not then, I knew how hard to resist dark magic could be. I was just determined to rescue him before I lost another brother, if it wasn't already too late.

"When I got to his house I cast spells trying to determine the magical signature of who had been casting the dark magic. I didn't find any signature but his, so I thought they had used a concealing spell. I did everything I could think of, trying to uncover it. But all my spells and diagnostics came back the same. The only one besides me who had recently cast magic in the house was Peter. That's when I understood.

"I raced out of his house determined to find him and kill him for betraying us. And well, you know the rest..." Sirius trailed off awkwardly.

Another silence filled the room, Sirius longed to ask if Harry forgave him, but by the time he worked up the nerve Harry was asleep once more.

As Harry awoke he felt a flash of irritation.

"Why is it that I fall asleep as soon as I get my answers? I would like to ask more questions, but no I just fall asleep," Harry grumbled as he reached for his glasses. Apparently his inheritance hadn't fixed his eyes.

"Well," a familiar voice answered, "If by answered you mean you've been testing people, then you would falling asleep because you use magic, and with your core still drained any magic use forces you back to sleep to recharge."

Harry shoved the glasses onto his face and smiled widely.

"Hermione," he said. Then he saw a flash of red from behind the bushy hair of his friend.

"Ron." Ron it appeared had shot up several inches since Harry had seen him last.

Hermione threw herself forward and gripped in a tight hug. "Oh, Harry. We've been so worried. First with you trapped with those awful people and not getting any information, and us not being able to tell you anything because Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, then your inheritance coming in early, which is dangerous enough, especially with a full creature inheritance, let alone a full dual Hybrid inheritance. And you doing magic on top of it. When they brought you here, I was so afraid you were going to die, you were so pale."

Harry awkwardly patted her on the back as he tried to decipher the words pouring out of her mouth. When she finally pulled back and stopped talking Ron clapped Harry on the shoulder and said, "Good to see you mate."

"I've missed both of you," Harry said, trying to quash the anger he had been feeling toward them all summer. Them and their vague letters and warnings. But, well, he _had_ missed them.

"Oh Harry," Hermione cried, and threw herself at him again.

"What have you been up to? Your letters made you sound busy."

"Cleaning," Ron said with a grimace.

"Cleaning?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, this place is trashed. It's been empty for years, except for a loon of a house elf," Ron said.

"Don't call Kreacher names Ronald," Hermione said.

"Hermione is still on about spew," Ron said, "keeps going on about how we have to be nice to Kreacher, but he's the creepiest thing I ever saw. I'm telling you mate, it's not about him being a house elf, it's about his crazy ass muttering about blood traitors and mudbloods and who knows what else."

"He's been alone for too long Ronald, that's all, besides Dumbledore said we should be kind to him," Hermione said, sounding as it this were an old argument between them.

Ron just rolled his eyes. Harry had to resist the urge to break out in a grin. Them and their arguing. Sometimes he thought it was all they ever did. He wondered if this was the year they would stop dancing around and just admit they like each other. It had been close after the yule ball, but neither of them had taken the leap.

In the silence that followed Hermione returned to her seat, and was soon scratching away at a piece of parchment the way she had been before he woke, and Ron returned to his quidditch magazine.

Harry laid back down and closed his eyes, thinking about what Sirius had told him. It made sense, now that he had explained it, and he couldn't really blame Sirius for being worried about his brother, especially if Sirius thought Harry would be at Hogwarts. He was still mad about ending up at the Dursley's, but that wasn't really Sirius' fault.

Opening his eyes again, he saw Hermione frowning at the parchment, and biting her lower lip, a sure sign she was thinking hard. Harry remembered how angry he had been at them all summer, not writing him anything of value, but now that he saw them it seemed to have faded. Being out of the Dursley's had to be part of it, and he suspected that his inheritance had something to do with it as well. It just seemed pointless to be mad at them for it when so much had happened.

Once again a tension began to fill the air. It had an almost rhythmic quality to it as it brushed his skin. It felt hot and fluid, the magic filling the air. Ron and Hermione both looked at him as it grew, but neither spoke.

"Hermione," Harry said, looking her straight in the eyes, "why did you have McGonagall take my firebolt in third year?"

Without so much as blinking Hermione said, "Because I thought it was from Sirius Black. I was afraid if you got on it you would die. Your life meant more to me that a stupid broomstick, even more than our friendship. I could handle you being mad at me, but I could not handle you dying."

Harry nodded, in retrospect he could see where she was coming from. If Sirius had been trying to kill him it would have been a smart way to go about it. She still could have talked to him about it beforehand but, she had been young.

"Ron, why did you sit next to me on the train before first year? There's no way every other compartment was actually full." Harry whipped his head around and met Ron's eyes.

Ron seemed surprised at the question, he probably thought Harry would ask about last year when they hadn't been talking, and Harry would, but he needed to know this first.

"Before Hogwarts I hadn't had any friends that weren't part of my family. I was really nervous about making friends, before Ginny and I just did everything together. As I was trying to find a place to sit I considered just sitting with Fred and George, but I really wanted to make a friend of my own, like they had Lee. Then I remembered the stories Mum used to tell, how she made best friends with a muggleborn girl who her mum had helped find the platform. And I thought about how mum had helped you, so when I saw you sitting alone I thought I would at least try. But as soon as I saw you I remembered Fred and George said you were Harry Potter, and I got really nervous so I said the first excuse for sitting with you that came to mind." Ron seemed nervous again, but he wasn't lying, Harry was certain of that.

Knowing his friend Harry suspected he had come up to him because he was Harry Potter, and because his mum had helped him, but Harry had to admit he probably would have been curious too if the situation had been reversed. The important thing was that Ron just wanted a friend.

Turning back to Hermione Harry said, "Why didn't you tell us about the timeturner in third year?"

"Well, for most of the year we weren't speaking." She held up a hand and gave him a look daring him to interrupt when he opened his mouth. He wasn't stupid enough to talk after that.

"More importantly I gave my word. I always keep my promises Harry. You know that. McGonagall made me promise I wouldn't tell anyone, even you, and yes she specified."

Harry nodded, he did know Hermione always kept her word, it was one of the things he loved most about her, even if it had been used against him that time.

Turning to Ron Harry took a deep breath, this was the question he was afraid for, the question that could permanently turn him from his best friend.

"Ron, did you really believe I'd put my name in the Goblet last year?"

Ron swallowed hard., but met Harry's eyes. "No."

"Then why?"

Ron didn't answer for several minutes, and the magic in the room seemed to thicken. Hermione actually let out a small whimper before Rom finally spoke.

"Harry...I...You know I love my parents, and I am beyond grateful for them. I know the way you grew up was hell compared to my childhood, but my parents aren't perfect. My dad is always gone, always working, he has to be to support us all you know, but even when he is home he is in the shed tinkering with things. I know he loves us, but I barely see him. And mum...well you know what she's like. Always comparing all of us. Except Ginny, but Ginny's the only girl and mum dotes on her, but me, I'm just the youngest boy. Bill is brilliant. I know you don't really know him so you don't understand, but Bill is a genius. Like an actual genius, he passed his Runes and Arithmancy OWLs and NEWTs with the highest ever recorded scores. He was offered a prime position at Gringotts, where it is damn hard to get in, and he's been all over the world doing work for them. He's their top curse breaker, and he's only in his twenties. Even when he was younger he was always the best, kinda like Hermione, but he's also cool. Always had the best friends, gets on well with everyone,"

"Are you saying I'm not cool Ronald Weasley," Hermione demanded. Both boys just looked at her, and she went slightly pink.

"Anyway," Ron went on, "Charlie, he's a natural at quidditch a brilliant seeker, he was offered a place with England straight out of school, but he turned it down, and he's great with animals, always bringing strays home. And he did good in school too, not like Bill, but still really good. And he's even more social than Bill, everyone loves him. Then there's Percy. He's the worlds biggest prat, but-don't ever repeat this-but I kinda understand why. He felt like he always had to follow the rules, always be perfect to ever be anywhere as good as Bill and Charlie, and Mum lapped it up. Whenever he would act like that, she loved it. Fred and George are funny. They don't get very good grades, but I'm pretty sure that's on purpose. They are both wicked smart, not like Bill, but I'm pretty sure not even Hermione is like Bill really, I don't know anyone who is as purely smart as him. He cannot be creative to save his life, he hides it well, but everyone in the family knows that he really doesn't know how to think outside the box, everything about him is calculated. The twins though, I don't know anyone more creative. The things they make, I mean, you've seen them at it. Just because it's pranks doesn't mean it's not amazing. And Ginny, well like I said, Ginny is the baby of the family and the only girl. She could probably get away with murder.

"And then there's me. By the time I came around Mum was tired. And she was always dealing with the twins who even when we were all really young were making messes. Then Ginny was born, she's only a year younger than me you know so I don't really remember life without her, and she got all mom's attention. Then I come to school and for the first time in my life I had friends. But these friends are both amazing. One of them is the second smartest person I've ever met, and she's brave and kind and stunning to boot. And the other is Harry bloody Potter.

"And I know you hate the attention, I really do, but all I've ever wanted is attention. I know you get just as much bad as good, maybe more, but it's still attention, you're still noticed. And then there's me. I'm not stupid, not really, but I'm not smart either. I'm okay at quidditch, not bad, but not like Charlie, I'm nothing like Percy the prat, and I don't have even half the twins flare.

"Then last year comes. You know I would die for you, I stood in front of Sirius for you, and I would do it again in a heartbeat, but when your name came out of the Goblet, I just, I couldn't. I knew you didn't do it, anyone who actually looked at your face the moment your name came out would know you didn't do it. But you were in the tournament and you would get all the attention again. Not just press and attention from most people but the attention from my mom and from Hermione. And I just couldn't bear the thought of you getting all the attention again. It's stupid I know. But I knew Hermione would side with you, and I knew my parents would write you and say how worried they were, and they would do everything they could to support you.

"It's not that I didn't, don't, want you to have support, because I know with the Dursley's you need that, it's just everyone would focus on you again, and those I love most, those I look up to and want to see me for myself, be proud of me were focused on you again." Ron looked down at his hands.

"I know it makes me a terrible friend, especially after all you've done for me and my family, but for me it was a breaking point. How could I look at you every day and support you when you had everything I ever wanted? The twins weren't pranking you, instead they rallied around you, Ginny paid far more attention to you than she has to me in a long time. Hermione took your side, my parents letters were all about you and how mad they were about the tournament. It wasn't until I saw you face the dragon that I realized that even if you were getting everything I'd ever dreamed of it didn't change that you were in danger, and it didn't change that you were close to breaking from the pressure. I recognized the set of your shoulders.

"I promised myself after you saved Ginny that I would always stand by you when you needed me, and I realized that in my jealousy I had broken my promise."

Ron looked back up at Harry, "I can't really ask for your forgiveness, because I don't deserve it, but I promise you this mate, it won't happen again."

Harry didn't know what to do. Every word Ron had spoken was the absolute truth, he could feel that much, in fact he was pretty sure that the magical aura in the room forced Ron to be truthful, because the way Ron was speaking was out of character for his best friend. It didn't change the betrayal though. Because it had been a betrayal.

 _He realized he was being an idiot on his own,_ part of Harry argued, but another part answered back that it was only because of the dragon.

"I..." Harry said, "to be honest, I don't really know what to do with that Ron. The fact that you realized on your own is good, but you...you really hurt me. Look, I appreciate your promise but I... I want to be your friend, and I love you like a brother but if you ever betray me again I will destroy your mind and leave you drooling, do you understand?"

Ron looked troubled, not only by Harry's words but by the way his magic spiked and streamed around the room, but he looked Harry straight in the face and nodded.

 **Sorry it took so long, but I did warn you it would be sporadic. Please do review.**


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter5

When Harry woke next he had the same flash of annoyance as the last time. He was desperate to have longer conversations and not just have his questions answered. He looked up to see who was with him now to find it was still Hermione, though Ron had gone somewhere. She was quietly working on an essay, the loudest noise in her room her quill scratching against the parchment. He could here some murmurs that meant someone was talking somewhere else in the house but the noise was far too indistinct to make out any words.

"What are you working on?" Harry asked. Hermione started, tipped over her ink, and looked up at him.

"Oh, you're awake Harry," she said, "I'm just rewriting my inheritance essay for Professor McGonagall. I wrote it earlier this summer, of course, but with all the research I've done about your inheritance I decided to to rewrite it."

"What have you learned about my inheritance?" Harry asked. "I didn't even have a chance to do any research for basic inheritances, let alone look up my inheritances. All the information I know came from Madam Pomfrey the other night."

Hermione looked pleased to share the information, as he had guessed she would be.

"Well, where do you want me to start?" she asked.

"The basics of inheritances, I know almost nothing about them."

"There are different types of inheritances," she started, "but they all work on a single principle. Somewhere in the family history there were powerful magical beings. When a child who has this powerful blood comes of age they have may have that blood overcome their human blood and transform them. However this only happens if a condition is met prior to the birthday. The condition depends of the type of creature. For example ShadowElves come into their inheritance if they have a ShadowElf ancestor and if they are exposed to very dark magic as a child. Another example is a AirFae, they have to have had a tragedy. Veela have to have been sexually harassed. Though that makes is sound like it has to be tragic, but it doesn't have to be. "

"So what's the condition of the FireCat?" Harry interrupted.

Hermione blushed, "I don't know. I've been looking for three days now, using the Black Library, which is very impressive by the way, but I can't find anything. Madam Pomfrey certainly wasn't joking when she said very little is known about them. From everything I've read it appears all information on FireCats is orally based, one FireCat teaches another, and it's never shared with outsiders."

Harry nodded.

"Can I continue?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded again.

"There are four different categories of magical beings, well debatably four. The first is the humanoid. They are well, humanoid. This group includes beings such as all higher Elves, Veela, Goblins, Giants. They only have one form which is similar to a human form The second type are the ethereals. They are beings that have two forms. Their creature forms are not fully corporeal. They are more like the ghosts of Hogwarts. They can be felt, but they don't exist on the same plane as the rest of us. Their second form is their human form, and while they will likely have some small identifiers, such as slightly pointier ears, they look fully human. These include all types of Fae, nymphs, dryads and other spirits of nature.

"Third are the true creatures. They are three forms. A fully creature form, a halfway form and their fully human form. Their creature forms are their true animals. For you as a FireCat that will be a a small black cat with eyes that while they are still green seem to smolder, and your whiskers will seem to glow like embers, at least according to the descriptions I've read. Your second form is a partial form, that's what you are in now, with your cat ears, tail and slitted cat eyes, but mostly human. Your third form will actually be your ShadowElf form, but for all other true creatures it is a fully human form. These include FireCats, obviously, Drackens, Sphinxes, and Hellhounds.

"The last group are highly debated, they are creatures that are turned by force rather than inheritance, like werewolves and vampires. The popular opinion is that they aren't truly magical beings, instead are magical creatures similarly to how hippogriffs and flobberworms are magical creatures. I disagree, just because their turning is different that doesn't make them any less intelligent or powerful."

"So," Harry said slowly, "How is it that I'm both a humanoid and a true creature?"

"That," Hermione said, distracted from the inner rant she had been having about the unfairness of how turned creatures were treated, "is because you are what is called a Hybrid."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked, trying not to get frustrated. It was always the same with Hermione. She was brilliant at giving explanations, when you forced her to be detailed, she often forgot that not everyone understood things instinctually like she did.

"Well, it basically means you are multiple creatures. There are three basic types of hybrids. Nothing ever has a way of dividing groups that are perfect, even the groups I mentioned earlier aren't perfect there are always exceptions, such as the Veela where they have a second form despite being humanoid."

"Hermione, you were explaining about Hybrids."

"Right, there are three basic groups. A partial Hybrid, and uneven Hybrid and a full Hybrid. A partial Hybrid is where the witch or wizard is two different creatures, but doesn't have full access to the forms and or powers of either. So, they could be a Veela and a Fae of some kind. They would most likely only have a human form, but access to a Veela's allure, and the Fae's elemental ability. This happens when the conditions happen to cause the transformation, but neither are strong enough to in any way overcome the other. Without the strength to overcome the other neither can manifest fully.

"An uneven Hybrid is where they have one full inheritance and one partial inheritance. This happens when one of the triggers is strong enough to overcome the other, but the other is still powerful. This would be like a Sphinx and Dryad Hybrid, where they have access to all three Sphinx forms and all their powers, and the can access the powers of a Dryad, but not their form.

"The last, what you have, is the rarest. This is where the two inheritances are equal, like in a partial inheritance but you have full access to all the forms and powers of both forms. This is really rare because the triggers have to both happen to a phenomenal degree for it even be possible. But it's even rarer for this to happen to true creatures. For all Hybrid inheritances the blood has to be willing to...share, I guess is the best term. This is really rare in true creature inheritances, and pretty much always results in an uneven Hybrid. This is because the triggers to become true creatures are always incredibly intense, and usually life threatening, so the overwhelm all others. From what I can find, which like I've already said is very little, there has never been FireCat Hybrid before."

"So..." Harry said, "I'm even more of a freak." His tone was so nonchalant that it took Hermione a minute to register what he had said.

"Harry James Potter," she screeched. He burst out laughing.

"I'm just kidding Mione." He shook his head. He had not meant to say that out loud. He knew she would forget about it though in her rage over the nickname. She always did when he made slips like that. He knew now, after all these years at Hogwarts that the Dursleys hadn't been completly right when it came to him. He wasn't a complete waste of space or worthless, and he had known all along that he wasn't lazy, but they were right about him being a freak. Not for being a wizard like they had always said, but because he was the boy who lived, and now a Hybrid that shouldn't exist.

She glared at him, "Don't call me that."

He made his face suitably repentant, but inside he smirked, it always worked. But just to be safe...

"Hermione, you kept talking about having two creature inheritances, what about having more than that? With the way purebloods breed they are sure to have more bloodlines running through them."

Hermione made a face, "They have happened, but they all die within a year of their inheritance. The magic just won't stabilize, even with just partial inheritances. There have been numerous attempts to save them with different treatments, spells, potions, even muggle means, but it just doesn't work."

Harry nodded, it made sense, having more than three magical cores, their wizarding magic and their two creature cores would be impossible to stabilize.

"What about just having a partial inheritance, not a Hybrid one, just one creature, is that possible?"

"Yes, it's actually quite common. That's the way Fleur was, she was a partial Veela. She had the allure and a fire affinity, but no secondary Veela form."

"You Hermione are a miracle worker," Harry said.

"That seems like a rather abrupt change of subject," Hermione said with narrowed eyes.

"Not really," Harry said with a grin, "If I remember everything you just told me, I don't have to do any research at all for my essay. You just gave it to me." She glared at him.

When Harry woke next he was rather less annoyed than he had been. He and Hermione had ben able to have a proper conversation about everything that had been going on, after she had lectured him on the importance of studying, and not cheating.

She had told him about Percy abandoning his family in favor of the ministry, and the fight he and Mr. Weasley had had. She talked about the Order meetings, and the people they had met, and the fights they had had with Mrs. Weasley over attending order meetings. She talked about the nightmare it was to clean the house, and Fred and George making general menaces of themselves, though they had invented these cool devices called extendable ears, which were flesh colored strings that let you here what was said at the other end of it.

He looked up to see who was with him now and saw it was Sirius again.

"Hey Padfoot, how long has it been?"

"Pup, you're awake. From what I understand you and Hermione has a nice long chat yesterday afternoon."

"Who all has been watching me?" Harry asked, wondering if he had just been sleeping and missing some of the others he wanted to talk to.

"Me, Molly, Arthur, Ron, Hermione and my cousin Tonks, but she and Arthur can only do so after work. Remus took a few turns when you first got here, but he hasn't in a few days."

"What about the twins?"

"Molly doesn't trust them to watch you without pulling any type of magical prank, and any extra magic around you is dangerous."

"I don't think she's being fair to them," Harry said.

"To be honest, I agree with you, but she's their mother, and it's their battle to fight."

"What about Remus, why is he avoiding me?"

"Well, FireCats and WereWolves don't get along, and he wanted to be sure that he wouldn't mess up your healing."

"Oh, is that going to be a problem in the long run?"

"It shouldn't be."

Sirius POV:

Walking down the stairs to get some food for his godson's breakfast Sirius felt his frustration growing. He had covered for Remus, what he had said was technically true, WereWolves and FireCats do not get on, but it was a territorial thing not a magical thing. To be honest he had no idea why Remus was being so stubborn.

He stalked into the kitchen, and started filling a plate for Harry. The Weasleys who were in the kitchen all just looked at him. They could feel the anger around him, his magic spiking. It had never used to do that, but Azkaban had left it's mark on him and more importantly on his magic. and his mind. He recognized that he wasn't doing well mentally. But he just didn't know how to get the help he needed, not with him on the run.

Just as he was about to head back upstairs Remus walked into the kitchen. Sirius looked at him and glowered.

"I just lied to my godson to cover for you Remus," he said quietly as he passed the man. "I won't do it again. Get yourself under control, and man up."

He continued up the stairs.

 **One more chapter in bed, dealing with his inheritance, then we'll move the plot on. This hopefully gave you the information about the creatures in this world.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 **Minerva McGonagall's POV**

Minerva McGonagall sighed down at her enormous piles of paperwork. She loved her job, she really did, but the paperwork was never ending. As the transfiguration teacher, she had to update all her lesson plans. She kept them mostly the same from year to year, but when they learned new things about transfiguration, which they did all time, she felt it her duty to make sure that was included in the lesson plans.

Then as Deputy Headmistress she was in charge of all the annoying administration work. She had to make sure they had all the basics. No one thought it a big deal, in a magical school, but they needed food, and she had to make sure all the contracts were still in line, and they needed things like bandages, and bed linens, and the list went on and on. And no one, no one ever considered things like that. She certainly hadn't before she accepted the job but now it was more work that anything else she did, or at least it felt like it. And then there was the introducing all the new muggleborns. She really did love that, but the paperwork for managing it, not so much. And it did take a great deal of time.

And then she was head of Gryffindor. To be honest that really didn't give her too much to do over the summer. Except for choosing the prefects, and the quidditch captain, and the incoming fifth years. As head of Gryffindor she was informed of all inheritances, and had to know the details of them. And she would work with all students with inheritances and the mentors throughout the rest of their time at Hogwarts. Most years she didn't even have one, which if she was honest with herself was a relief. She understood those who had inheritances better than most who didn't because she was an animagus, so she understood having different instincts, but she never felt like she was ever as helpful to her students as she wished she was when they had inheritances.

But this year she did have a student with an inheritance. Harry Potter. She had to admit she shouldn't have been surprised he inherited, with how trouble always seemed to find him, but she had been. Neither James nor Lily had an inheritance. Worse yet he had his inheritance early, which shouldn't be possible. And now he was on the verge of being expelled by the ministry for it. Because of his inheritance she knew he wouldn't be, there were laws to protect those who had inheritances. But it could still cause problems, and not only for him, but for everyone at the school, with the way the ministry was pushing anyway, this could end up being one thing too many.

Thinking of Harry Potter reminded her that she had told Molly and Sirius she would be over later today to check on him. She was going to explain the school and government protocols involved in his inheritance, including that he would be coming to the school as soon as he was well enough to get up to meet his mentors, and get his new quarters set up the way he would need them, as dictated by his inheritance.

In fact, she grabbed her wand up and checked the time, she should be heading over in twenty minutes or so, just enough time to run to the loo, and grab her shoes and coat before it would be time to go.

When she arrived at Grimmauld place she felt like she had stepped back in time twenty years. She found an enraged Sirius Black and a guilty looking Remus Lupin in the middle of a shouting match in the middle of the kitchen like they had done so many times at Hogwarts. She couldn't remember how many time the house elves had summoned her to witness just the same thing. The Weasleys boys were standing there looking stunned by what they were seeing along with Ginny. Molly and Hermione were no where to be seen, otherwise they would have stepped in.

"You won't go because you are being a coward, that is all it comes down to," Sirius yelled.

"The likelihood of there being a problem is high Sirius," Remus said tiredly. It was clear to Minerva she was coming in after the entire fight had been repeated at least once, if not twice.

"There is no magical proof of that," Sirius retorted.

"Because we know almost nothing about FireCats Sirius. I won't risk it."

"It has nothing to do with that Remus and you know it. You know you are going to have to answer his questions about why you weren't around and you are too damn scared to face that. It has nothing to do with you being a WereWolf, you are just using that as your excuse to not do it. Just like you always use that as an excuse when you are afraid."

"Sirius," Remus said, and he sounded properly exhausted, but he didn't refute it.

"You've avoided him since he woke up five days ago, and he is finally almost healed, and when he is in the next two days or so he will come down, and if he has to hunt you down Remus you will lose him. You are already pushing it. Just man up and go talk to him. I'll even come with you. You don't have to do this alone, but you do have to do it. Remus I won't lose him again, I don't want to lose you more than I can even say, but I won't lose him. I made a promise to James that I already broke for years because I was too much of an idiot, I won't do it again."

There was silence in the kitchen before Remus finally nodded. Remus took a big breath and headed out the door, followed by Sirius and the Weasley boys, and then Minerva herself.

They walked up the numerous flight of stairs, luckily still quiet enough as to not wake up the portraits. When they got to the landing of the floor where Harry's room was they could hear him talking with Molly and Hermione. Remus froze, looked back at Sirius, and walked into the room with all of them trailing after him.

"Remus," Harry said, clearly happy to see him. But as soon as he had spoken the room filled with magic. It pulsed sluggishly through the air and Minerva found it hard to breath it was so thick. It felt hot, like she was standing in the core of a volcano, and it pressed down on her until she could feel her knees tremble trying to hold her up. Her breath came in short labored gasps, and she could hear everyone else doing the same.

"Remus," Harry said again, but this time his tone was very different. It was hard to read, he sounded ancient and childlike all at once. It was a strange thing to hear from a boy who despite being a trouble magnet was an ordinary boy who she had taught for years.

"Remus, why have you been avoiding me?"

"Because," Remus said slowly. "I'm afraid to answer your questions. Because of how you'll see me afterward, and because of what it will force me to think about. Unfortunately I've been thinking of it anyway because I've been scared of thinking about it." Remus's voice sounded thin and worn compared to Harry's.

"You aren't afraid anymore?" Harry asked. The magic ramping up again. Molly actually whimpered.

"I am terrified," Remus said, "but..."

"Here you are."

"Here I am."

"So... Why then Remus? Why did I not meet you until I was a third year, and why didn't you tell me you were supposed to have been my uncle?"

"It... Harry... To explain I need to explain some things about me. I am a WereWolf. I know you know that but there are parts of being a WereWolf that most people can't understand. As you grow into your FireCat you will understand some but unlike you I had no mentor to help with my inheritance, and it didn't come when I was nearly an adult. I was bitten when I was a child. I can barely remember not being one. And as a WereWolf there is nothing more important to me than my pack. I actually form magical bonds with members of my pack. But unlike you who can form your pride with witches and wizards to stay sane and not go feral I need bonds with magical creatures. It's been worse for me than others because I am in no way an Alpha. I am not even a Beta. I am an Omega. I don't know how much you know about the differences among WereWolves, but that basically means I cannot survive as a lone wolf. I MUST have an alpha. My parents kept me so isolated as child because I was bitten, I did not form a pack. My father acted as an Alpha, but her was terrible at it. I was nearly feral by the time I came to Hogwarts.

"And then I met the others. James and Sirius and Peter. And they included me, and they liked me. Within a week, for the first time in my life, pack bonds formed. James was my Alpha with Sirius as his Beta, or second, and Peter as my packmate. I obeyed James without hesitation. I had to. He was my Alpha. I don't think the other boys, even after they found out about me, realized that it was why I always took James' side. I didn't tell them about my Lycanthopy, even though my instincts screamed at me to tell my Alpha the truth. I spent more than one sleepless night hating myself for lying to James, and the others, but mostly James, because that is how I am hard wired. But I couldn't risk them turning on me. If they, especially James as my Alpha rejected me I would have died. No if ands or buts about it. I would have died.

"And then they came to me and told me they already knew. And I honest to Merlin passed out. And then they said they were planning on becoming animagus for me and I cannot tell you how grateful I felt. Once they were animagus my magical bonds settled. They weren't true creatures like me, but it was enough. And I was able to remain sane. I did tell James he was my Alpha, but he never did understand what that meant, but it didn't matter.

"And then we got older and Lily joined us. I accepted her immediately as my Alpha's mate. Then you were born and you were my Alpha's cub. That of course made you my cub as you were part of my pack, but you were also above me in the pack, even as a babe, because you were James' son and heir."

Remus paused and Harry said "So why did you abandon me then?"

"I went on missions for the order after we graduated from Hogwarts. To be perfectly honest if it had been up to me I wouldn't have joined, I've never been much of a fighter, and I certainly would not have volunteered to spy, but James wanted me to. He never told me to do it, but he introduced me to the order and was very excited for me to be given the position of spying.

"I was spying when everything went to hell. I felt my Alpha die, followed by your mother. I raced back to England, but by the time I got back Sirius was in Azkaban, and I thought Peter was dead. I couldn't feel him because his betrayal cut him off, but I thought it was because he was dead. And I went mad. Properly insane, with my pack gone. I fled to the mountains and lived wild. It took me six years to come back to myself. And even then it was only occasionally heading into the tiny village by the mountains.

"It took me two years after that to come back to myself. When I did my first thought was you. I could feel you were still alive and went out to look for you. But three days into my search I realized what I was doing. If I had found you then, you would have been nine years old, and I would have claimed you as my Alpha. And if it hadn't killed you Harry it would have driven you insane. So I stopped myself. I considered going to confront my mate on why he betrayed our pack, I decided it wasn't worth it.

"I went back to the mountains, built myself a cabin and did my best to fill my time and keep myself from returning to a feral state. I considered going to find you when you were eleven, but I decided that was still too young to push my pack bonds on you. And then one day out of the blue I get a letter from Professor Dumbledore telling me Sirius has escaped, and wondering if I would come teach defense and help keep you safe from him.

"And then, there you were. The moment you entered my train compartment I smelled you and woke up. And I was going to introduce myself, but you were so young, and you were so worried, and then you were messing around with your friends. And you didn't know me. I had known you wouldn't, I had never been around, but seeing you ask about me to your friend, and more than that just seeing you, so different from the little baby you had last been, and looking so like James, I just couldn't. And then to you I was just your professor. And it was easier for me to leave it like that, because if you looked at me like your uncle the Alpha bond I had with you would snap into place.

"And though you were powerful enough to handle it, your patronus proved that, you didn't even know I was a WereWolf. You didn't know me as your uncle, and if you had accepted the bond it would have been done out of pity, and most likely you wouldn't have accepted, and losing you, losing the last of my pack would kill me.

"Then, everything came apart again. Peter wasn't dead, Sirius was innocent, and on the run, and I had nearly killed you. I had to get out of there. Once you were in the Triwizard Tournament I considered coming to you then and just telling you everything, just so I could be there to support you, but I was too afraid. And then you were kidnapped, and then Voldemort was back. And then you were a FireCat, which was my worst nightmare and my dream come true all at once. You were a creature like me, you could save me from the pain I've always felt because you were a magical creature, but FireCats hate WereWolves. You've always hated WereWolves. And I didn't know what to do, so I avoided doing anything."

Minerva didn't know what to think. When put that way she really didn't blame Remus, but she also didn't know what Harry was feeling. She knew he didn't get on with his muggle relatives, and didn't know if he'd blame Remus. The magic in the air hadn't dropped, but it had changed. It was still hot and heavy, but it felt like it was full of movement. It swirled and eddied, faster and faster, till she felt dizzy.

"Come here," the voice that said that came from Harry's mouth, but it didn't sound like Harry. It was a voice that was made of burning forests, and the explosions that fueled a star, and the crackling of embers and somehow despite all of that it was the essence of a feline and spoke to the part of her soul the was a cat.

Remus stumbled forward until he was just to the side of Harry's bed where Harry was lounging, mostly sitting with a nest of pillows.

"Kneel," that strange unearthly voice said, and Remus fell to his knees. There was a pause and the magic swirled in a frenzy, changing till it centered entirely on Harry and Remus and then Harry moved. Minerva was barely able to follow his arm as it lashed around and with claws he didn't have moments before, swiped the back of Remus' neck, leaving four vicious looking stripes that ran red. The moment he moved the magic surged, then vanished, and for the first time since coming upstairs she felt like she could breath.

Despite the magic being gone they all stayed silent for moment, then Remus, still on his knees with blood streaming down his back burst out laughing. It was hysterical laughter, but it was still filled with light. He was happy.

Then Harry joined him, laughing out. He reached over the side of the bed, pulled Remus to his feet and gave him a hug.

"Will you be alright?" Harry asked, his voice back to normal, if sounding quite tired

"What was that?" Hermione burst out, but neither Remus nor Harry even looked at her.

"I'll be fine, just tired," Remus said.

"We need to talk about this, but not right now. Go rest, you probably ought to talk to Sirius," Harry said.

"Yeah," Remus said looking back at Sirius. "Thank you Harry. I cannot ever thank you enough."

Harry smiled as Remus took Sirius' hand and pulled him out of the room.

"What was that?" Hermione asked again.

"I marked him as part of my pride," Harry said leaning gingerly against his pillows. "It was basically confirming the pack bond he already had with me, and claiming him as mine, with me as his Alpha. Marks like that don't mean nearly as much to me as him, but it does settle the magic which is important because his kind and mine are enemies, I could feel that. But now, he is a marked FireCat, even if he is still," his nose wrinkled "a WereWolf."

"And all that magic?" She asked, sounding as if she had no idea how to take what she had just said.

"Well, at the beginning it was the truth and questioning magic, then it changed into the claiming magic. I can't explain it better than that. It honestly just happened."

Hermione just shook her head.

Minerva stepped forward, reminded of her task by Harry's not knowing anything about his own inheritance.

"Mr. Potter," she said.

"Professor," he said, blushing at her seeing him in his pajamas.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Better. Tired, after helping Remus, but feeling better than I have in a while. Almost back to normal, better than normal."

"Good. Well, according to Madam Pomfrey you need to stay in bed for another day or two, but when you are cleared to leave you will be coming to Hogwarts."

"Why Hogwarts? Why can't I stay here?" Harry asked. His face had gone completely blank.

"Because you have come into an inheritance you have been assigned a mentor, well two actually because you have one mentor per inheritance, one a ShadowElf to teach you what it means to be a ShadowElf and how to control the powers you have gained, and a FireCat mentor to teach you how to control the magic and forms you gained with that inheritance. Normally you would meet your mentors at your house and stay there for a week, before coming to Hogwarts to get settled into your new quarters, and making sure everything is set up for what you need during the year.

"But, obviously you are not returning to the Dursley's for a week and we cannot have unknowns in the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. So, instead you will come straight to Hogwarts and meet them there. It is probably for the best because your inheritance is so complicated and volatile because it came early that getting you help as quickly as possible will be...helpful."

Harry nodded.

"I see, thank you professor."

"I will come get you in two days time to take you to the castle, make sure you have all your things ready to go."

"Professor, my things were never gotten from my relatives house. I was unconscious at the time. And I have no idea where my wand is. The last I know of it was me dropping it after my cousin punched me out when he blamed me for what he felt of the dementors."

Minerva nodded, "Professor Dumbledore has your wand, Arabella found it. As for your things, we will send someone to get them, and they will meet you at Hogwarts."

Harry nodded again, "Send Remus. It'll do him some good to get out."

Minerva raised an eyebrow and Harry blushed.

"I just mean, he will do better after what happened today if he can do something he thinks will be helpful to me, if you don't mind asking him."

Minerva nodded and turned to go.

"Professor," Harry said.

"Yes, Mr. Potter," she said turning back around.

"What about the things I need for this next year? The new books, I need some new robes, and some other basic supplies."

"Once you are settled in with your mentors tell them you need to go shopping and they will take you. It's part of their responsibilities."

Harry nodded again as she walked out the door.

 **Sirius POV**

Sirius had been listening proudly as Remus explained about what happened. As he bore his soul to earn a family, a real family that would love and accept him, like Sirius knew Harry would. Then his mind froze, mate. Had Remus just called him his mate?

He didn't even notice as the magic rose, though he did notice Harry marking Remus. That was exactly what he had been hoping for his friend. He had read up on WereWolves years before and knew how important them being tied to another magical creature was. Then Harry had told Remus to talk to him and he was being dragged from the room.

"Remus..." Sirius said slowly as he was dragged into his bedroom.

"Yes," Remus said as he shut the door behind them and set up privacy wards.

"Why did you call me your mate when you were talking under Harry's influence?"

"What do you know about the mating habits of WereWolves?" Remus asked, refusing to look him in the eye.

"Nothing," Sirius admitted. "I skipped that section when I was reading the books. I was only really interested in pack relationships."

"WereWolves mate for life."

"Okay," Sirius said looking confused, before a look of horror passed over his face. "You mean that when we slept together when we were sixteen it was it for you?"

"Yes."

"Remus, did you know when..."

"Yes."

"Then what the hell were you thinking? You knew it was just experimenting for me. It was nothing serious. That's what we promised each other. Nothing serious. Just fun and experimenting between friends!" Sirius yelled.

"I was thinking that it was only chance that I would have with the man I have been in love with since I was eleven years old. You are it for me Sirius. Even before we slept together you were it for me. I saw how you were, I thought there was no chance and I tried, I tried to like someone else. Even if it was just attraction, but nothing. So when you asked if I would try with you I thought better to have you once then never have anyone at all!"

Sirius stood there shocked. "I didn't, why didn't you tell me?" he whispered.

"Because I couldn't afford to lose your friendship."

Neither of them said anything, then Remus nodded and turned to walk out the door. Sirius reached out to stop him, but didn't say anything and didn't touch him.

Remus walked out without looking back.

 **So, moving plot forward, we'll meet Harry's mentors next chapter. Also I decided to defiantly do WolfStar.**

 **Please review, it makes me more likely to update quickly. I love seeing what people think.**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

The next morning when Harry woke he felt like a new person. He carefully stood up, trying to assess his aches. Aches that were always there. Until now that was. His legs felt weak, but he had been in bed for a long time, and the soles of his feet were sensitive, but neither of those really registered for him. He could honestly not remember ever feeling this good ever before.

He got out of bed and stretched, letting every muscle of his body arch upward, including, he noticed when he looked behind himself, his tail. He was still not sure how to handle his tail or his ears. Hopefully his mentors would be able to tell him how to get rid of them so he could look normal.

He quickly threw on his clothes, and smiled again to himself at how his body felt, his tail lashing from where it stuck out through a hole he had cut in the back of his trousers. They were the only pair he had that he had cut a slit in, another reason he had to learn to change back. He turned back to his trunk and shut it quickly. Everything was packed and ready to head to Hogwarts as soon as he'd had breakfast.

Remus had gone the day before and gotten them for him; Harry had been right in thinking it would help settle the bond to be able to help his alpha.

He quickly walked down the stairs to the kitchen tucked into the back of the house.

"Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said, "How are you feeling this morning?" She eyed him as if looking for a visible sign of illness.

"Honestly Mrs. Weasley I feel better than I have in years. Now that the weakness from my early Awakening has passed, I feel really good. I really didn't think I would be okay today. I mean I was still so weak last night, but now I feel great."

"Good," she said, still sounding skeptical. "Well, sit down, sit down. Let's get you some food. I do wish you could just stay here for the rest of the summer." As she spoke she pushed him into a chair and started putting food onto a plate in front of him. "I do understand you needing help understanding your inheritance dear, it's very important, I'm just concerned about them working for the ministry, with how the ministry is acting these days. Beans dear?"

Harry shook his head, looking around the table at Remus and Hermione who were the only ones up already, trying to get them to save him from her chatter, but both had just as wide of eyes at her stream of words.

"Even worse, who knows if they will be working for You-Know-Who. Oh goodness," she fluttered her hands even as she put another piece of toast on Harry's plate.

"It'll be fine Molly," said Remus, his voice a quiet hum. "Inheritance mentors answer to international law not local law, and more importantly they take very detailed oaths sworn to Magic herself to obey those laws. Harry will be fine."

"Did you have a mentor Remus?" Harry asked after swallowing a large mouthful.

"No, WereWolves don't have mentors, we are technically creatures not beings."

"That's ridiculous," Harry grumbled through his eggs. Even as he did so he remembered Remus saying something about that during his story.

"Don't talk while you're chewing Harry," Mrs. Weasley said.

Harry smiled to himself, loving that someone bothered to care enough to correct him, but didn't say anything else until he was done eating.

When he was done he handed the plate to Mrs. Weasley with a nod of thanks. Butterflies seemed to be parading in his stomach. He was excited to have the help and to understand what he was, but Mrs. Weasley was right, the government was currently after his head. Hermione had told him about him having to go to a hearing due to the magic he had used to escape the dementors. Besides he knew Voldemort had people everywhere.

"Are you done," Mrs. Weasley asked when she saw his empty plate in her hand, " or would you like some more?"

"I'm good. Thanks Mrs. Weasley, it was delicious." And it really was. More than that it was staying down, despite eating more than he really should have after his enforced fast at the Dursley's. He suspected that even if his inheritance hadn't fixed his eyes, though what that was going to mean for his cat form he didn't know, it had healed a lot of the internal damage left over from his childhood and summers. Also, he hadn't had to cook it. He did enjoy cooking, but doing it everyday and not being able to eat any of it got old really quickly. He felt his resentment stirring and it tugged at something inside of him, that part that had come out when he felt Remus' distress. It felt ancient and powerful and so very hot.

"Harry, is everything all right?" Remus asked. Most likely he could feel the rising magic thought the pack bond Harry realized as he was jerked back into himself.

"Yeah, just nervous about meeting my mentors," Harry said. He could tell Remus didn't believe him but he didn't say anything more. _Of course not,_ Harry thought _he's bound to me. That will take some getting used to._

"Well, if you're done then we should get going," Mrs. Weasley said.

"You're coming with me?" Harry asked surprised, since when did an adult help him.

"Just to meet your mentors dear. Then you'll go with them to get your rooms set up."

"Harry won't be in the boys dorm?" Hermione asked.

"No," Mrs. Weasley said, "People with inheritances have a separate dorm. More like individual flats for them and their mentors specifically designed for the them. I suspect for you Harry that there will be temperature adjustments to your rooms."

"Will I be able to invite people to my rooms?" Harry asked, a touch of panic in his voice.

"I think so," Mrs. Weasley said, "at least they used to allow it. That's just another question for your mentors to answer. Now are you ready?"

"Yeah," Harry said standing up.

Stepping through the floo into the headmasters office was a disaster. Harry had never really had a chance to practice. The only experience he had with flooing was when he ended up in Knockturn Ally before his second year. When he got to the office he tumbled rolling head over heels before crashing into the headmasters desk. _At least I ended up in the right place this time,_ Harry thought.

"Harry, dear are you alright?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she pulled him to his feet.

"Yeah," he groaned, "I'm just terrible at flooing."

"Clearly," drawled an American voice. The voice was deep and musical. Harry looked around and saw that the office was full of people. Professor Dumbledore was sitting at his desk. Madam Pomfrey and Professors McGonagall and Snape were there as well. Professor McGonagall was on her feet, he had clearly startled her. Snape was just looking at him, his face completely blank. Madam Pomfrey was running her wand over him, most likely making sure he was alright after his fall. There were also two strangers.

One was a woman. She was short with dark skin and no hair. She was a beautiful woman with her beauty accentuated by the slightly pointed ears. She was wearing close fitted navy dress and no robes, which surprised Harry because he was unused to adults in the wizarding world not wearing robes.

The other was clearly the American man who had spoken. He was tall with blond hair and brown eyes, that seemed to be burning. _FireCat,_ Harry thought, _he's like me._ And he was. Harry knew somehow that the man was like him and part of him relaxed. The part of him that he kept wary all the time; the part that had gotten him through the hard times at the Dursley's and when he had to face Voldemort. That ever alert side that he ignored relaxed and seemed to almost purr knowing he was safe with the tom.

The new part though, the part had marked Remus and reacted this morning, seemed to rise up and hiss. _Hogwarts is mine,_ Harry thought his shoulders rising up.

"Settle down kit," the man said, "I'm here to help, not claim your territory."

Harry jumped. He hadn't even realized he had been stalking forward and hissing aloud, never letting his eyes leave the mans. He released a pent up breath and let his shoulders drop. The man laughed.

"Oh, I had forgotten how territorial kittens are until things have been worked out between us. This will be fun." The last was said with heavy handed sarcasm.

The woman opened her mouth, clearly intending to speak but she was cut off by a sharp trill from Fawkes. Harry nearly jumped again. Fawkes said no words but Harry understood without a doubt that Fawkes was telling off the tom. _The man,_ Harry corrected himself. He had no idea why he kept thinking of the man as a tom. He disliked the name Tom, had ever since second year and Harry was fairly sure the man's name wasn't Tom. That would be just too much a coincidence.

"Oh hush," the man said glaring at the phoenix, "don't you go being judgmental little cousin. I'm here aren't I. And I fully intend to do my best, but I had all of two days warning. Give me a break."

Fawkes looked the man up and down and gave a soft apologetic trill and flew over the the man and started grooming his hair. The man laughed again.

"Now you're just sucking up."

The woman cleared her throat. "Come Mr. Potter, Mrs. Weasley sit down. Let us get started." Her voice was low and melodious and she spoke with a light french accent.

Harry looked back at Mrs. Weasley who nodded encouragingly at him. They both walked forward and took the two remaining chairs around the headmasters desk, Madam Pomfrey having sat down when Harry had started to stalk forward.

The woman began to speak again, her voice calm and in control. "Let us begin. My name is Cynthia Armond. You can all call me Cynthia. I am a native of Paris and a graduate of Beauxbatons. I am a ShadowElf, and have been a registered mentor with the ICW for thirty years now. I have spent the majority of my career focusing on working with those with unusual Hybrid inheritances. I have been on every continent to help those who have unusual Hybrid inheritances, mainly ShadowElves, but also other types of Elves when necessary. I have never worked with a FireCat Hybrid before and am eager to help you Mr. Potter come to understand the rich heritage you now have access too and how to balance it with your new FireCat inheritance.

"As I have been trained and have experience I will be your lead mentor. That does not mean I make unilateral decisions, especially as I have no prior experience with FireCats. It just means that I will be dealing with all legalities and any exposure to the press."

Cynthia stopped speaking and looked pointedly at the American man. He rolled his eyes which had Fawkes peck him harder than necessary on the head.

"My name is Brandon Matson. Harry you can either call me Brandon or tom. I'll explain that more later. I'm from Virginia USA. I graduated three years ago from Ilvermorny. I have no training in being a mentor, no FireCat does. There are only nine of us living right now, including Harry. I am the only native english speaking FireCat right now, so I was chosen to come. I will do my best to help with this, but all FireCats are very different people, and all of us are very difficult people, it comes with the territory. It's going to be hard, but we can work it out."

Cynthia nodded briskly and turned back to Harry. "All governments that are part of the ICW have regulations on those who receive inheritances. All but two of them are to protect us. Those two are about making certain that we still answer to the laws of the land. Part of those protections include mentorships for those with new inheritances and individual rooming within schools. It also means that all teachers at a school are required to have basic training in inheritances. At least two members of the senior staff are required to have in depth training. Here at Hogwarts all four heads of house have that in depth training. Professor McGonagall, as your head of house will be working with us, and Professor Snape as he has a student with an inheritance will be the other member of staff working closely with us."

Harry shot a look at Snape, but his face was still blank.

Cynthia continued, "The headmaster, as a former head of house has in depth training, and is welcome to work as closely with as he wishes, but given his many duties, it is doubtful he has much extra time."

Harry shot a look at the headmaster. He hadn't seen him in person since the night Cedric died. He had seen him in that meeting where Madame Pomfrey had been explaining about his inheritance, but he hadn't had a chance to speak with him and he desperately wanted to.

"Madam Pomfrey will be your primary healer, and she does have training in dealing with magical beings. She also has several St. Mungo's healers on call who have specialized in magical beings." Cynthia paused and looked at Harry. "Do you understand all of this so far Mr. Potter?"

"Yeah," he said, his voice quiet. She gave him a hard look, then shot a look at Brandon. Harry looked at Brandon as well, and saw a bone deep exhaustion for a moment before it faded back into his grin.

"He gets it," Brandon said, raising one eyebrow at Cynthia.

"Very well, as I understand it you are currently facing some legal trouble. Explain that to me please," she said.

"It's not his fault," Mrs. Weasley said fiercely rising from her chair.

"I have no doubt Mrs. Weasley, given the blatant media persecution of Mr. Potter that whatever has happened has been blown completely out of proportion, but I do need to know as Mr. Potter's lead mentor I will be handling the problem."

Harry took a deep breath and looked around, every eye was on him. When he looked at Snape he saw the dreaded Potions Masters eyebrow raise, as if daring him to speak.

"I was walking home from the park when I came across my cousin. We started walking home together. We were arguing when Dudley started freaking out about how cold it was getting, blaming me. I recognized the feeling of dementors and tried to tell Dudley it wasn't me, but he punched me. I dropped my wand. The next thing I knew two dementors were on top of us. I tried to find my wand, but the alley was dark and I couldn't find it. I tried to cast my patronus anyway but it didn't work. Then I felt my core in a way I've never done before. Madam Pomfrey said that it was my Change? Anyway I used that to fuel my patronus, then I passed out. When I woke up I found out they had actually expelled me for using magic, but Professor Dumbledore got them to at least give me a trial."

"You know the Patronus charm?" Brandon asked.

"We had dementors around the perimeter of the wards two years ago," Professor McGonagall said, "and Mr. Potter had a very negative reaction to them. The Defense Instructor that year gave him private tutoring to help him learn it. He mastered it in the spring of his third year."

"Nicely done kitten," Brandon said. Harry squirmed, he really didn't like Brandon calling him that. Brandon laughed. "Until you know enough and are old enough I will call you kitten. My old mentor still calls me kitten. Drove me right up the wall. It's tradition."

"If it annoyed you, why are you doing it to me?" Harry mumbled.

"Tradition. Plus I finally understand why my mentor used to laugh at me whenever I would make a face at him."

"As fascinating as this is, and it truly is," Cynthia said, "we do have some things that need to be handled quickly."

Harry and Brandon both nodded, while Professor McGonagall sniffed.

"Madam Pomfrey, do you have all the medical scans you took from his inheritance?" Cynthia asked, turning to look at the matron.

"Yes, and the scans I took of his cousin showing dementor exposure," Madam Pomfrey said with a nod.

"We also have a statement signed in blood by a squib that lives in Harry's neighborhood as to the presence of demetors," Professor Dumbledore added. Harry turned to look at him, the the headmaster wouldn't meet his eyes.

"I will need all of that. The day of the actual trial I will have the ICW inheritance lawyer represent Mr. Potter. The simple fact that he has come into an inheritance prevents him from being expelled for anything less than murder or rape, but there should not be a mark on his record for self defense."

"It won't be the first time," Harry said.

They all turned to look at him, and his face went crimson. "On my twelfth birthday a HouseElf showed up at my aunt and uncles and in an effort to keep me from coming back to Hogwarts levitated a cake. I got an official warning."

"I see," Cynthia said with pursed lips. "Did you ever find out why the elf acted that way?"

"His master sent in a cursed object that possessed a student and made them open the chamber of secrets. The elf, Dobby, wanted to protect me from danger," Harry said.

"Well, we will have to talk about this later, hopefully we can get the incident removed from your record, but it is not something that needs to be done immediately," Cynthia said.

"Well, what else has to be done immediately?" Brandon asked. "You've already got the info on the upcoming trial. So what else is so pressing?"

Cynthia pursed her lips again. "There are certain formalities required of a mentor meeting their charge. Not following those means the mentorship isn't truly in place, and can be challenged. Given the state of things in Britain right now, I would like to avoid that."

Brandon nodded. "Makes sense. So what do we have to do?"

"Next we discuss some of the effects of the inheritance with the family, but I understand there is some difficulty with that." Cynthia turned to Professor McGonagall.

"Harry's only living close family are muggles, and do not understand magic. They have raised him, but are not comfortable with some of the realities of our world. His only other relatives are through his godfather Sirius Black, but with him on the run that avenue is not available either. The only other family are the Weasleys, they are the family of Mr. Potters best friend, and he often stays with them for several weeks during the summer, which is why we invited Mrs. Weasley to this meeting," Professor McGonagall said.

"I see," Cynthia said.

Brandon had been frowning ever since Professor McGonagall started talking about Harry's aunt and uncle. "If they weren't comfortable with magic why did they take him in? And why was he sent to NoMajes in the first place? He's the son of an ancient pureblood house, with seats on the Wizengamot, NoMajes won't have been able to teach him what he needs to know."

"I placed him with his aunt because his mother sacrificed her life for him and in doing so left a protection on him, but it needs to be renewed by Blood Wards, which could only be placed where a blood relative of Lily's lived," Professor Dumbledore said.

"I see," Brandon said. He looked at Harry. "You didn't know any of this did you? Not about your family history, or your seats on the Wizengamot or the blood wards?"

Harry just shook his head. He felt like his stomach had fallen away. He had what? What even was the Wizengamot? And Blood wards at his aunts? Is that why he had to keep going back. Back to their cruel words and Harry hunting and Vernons fists?

Fawkes flew over to Harry and began to sing. Harry laid his head down on Fawkes' head and just breathed. He noticed hands on his neck, hands that felt like Fawkes song. Warm and soothing and he leaned back into it.

"Oh kitten, you are so broken." Brandon's voice was little more than a whisper. "Look at me kitten." Harry looked up and met the smoldering brown eyes. "It will get better. I promise it gets better. You and I we will break down all those walls that keep you from crying and hurting and feeling. We will teach you how to love again. Pick up all those broken pieces and make you so much stronger. Not harder, you are too hard now, but stronger. You and I kitten, I will be with you every step of the way I promise."

Harry could only nod.

"Right, well," Cynthia said. Her eyes were sharp on Harry and Brandon. "The next step is set up the rooms where we will be staying during the school year. We will go down there, and figure out what will be best."

Mrs. Weasley stood up. "That's my cue to be going." She walked over and pulled Harry into a deep hug. "Keep in touch. Owl us and maybe we can bring the children to meet up when you go to get your supplies."

Harry nodded, "I'd like that."

"Be good dear," Mrs. Weasley said as she stepped into the fireplace. Harry smiled at her.


End file.
